In Part 1, I addressed the prophet Isaiah’s life and signs as they apply prophetically to our current end times period, and especially for the upcoming first half of the Tribulation period.
I also showed how Isaiah’s own persona in a last days context is one of a ‘Jacob’-Judah small flock remnant member. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel also have similar personas related to this remnant, which I have described previously.
In this passage, Part 2, I will address themes and factors specific to scripture in the book of Isaiah and that are unique to God’s end times ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant in particular. I will address this “small flock” remnant in more detail because this remnant represents the epicenter of the kingdom war- i.e. the anti-Christ enemy warring against God’s planned inheritance and Kingdom. Keeping an eye on this small remnant will allow us to best and most accurately understand prophetic events to come and a little bit about how these events will play out in these end times. This remnant will lead the journey ahead of the second, larger house of Israel remnant and Gentiles across the world in their quest to be with Jesus Christ in his Millennial Kingdom.
Prophetic lessons learned through the experience of the ‘Jacob’-Judah small flock remnant are described in the following sections in this passage:
- ‘Judah’ is the primary target
- God’s people are advised to stay independent of alliances
- The enemy will destroy himself
- The primary target, God’s small flock Judah remnant, will be protected
These prophetic lessons are described in detail in separate sections below.
Lesson: ‘Judah’ is the primary target
The tribe of Judah carries God’s scepter and is his sanctuary. Thus, it is a natural target and enemy of the anti-Christ Chaldeans who are attempting to establish their own kingdom.
In my series entitled, Ezekiel’s personal and prophetic story, I showed the common theme of alignment of the Pharoah-‘Assyrian’ and his cooperating Chaldean-led nations in not only an upcoming conventional war against Judah, the country of Israel, but also one of an unconventional variety against the small ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant in ‘Babylon’-U.S.
While much strength of the last days Pharaoh-‘Assyrian’ lies in his support from people in nations surrounding Israel in the middle east and Africa, recall that he leads a global anti-Christ Chaldean army that is anti-house of Israel and anti-holy ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant. Given this, as you might expect, the ‘Assyrian’ has ties to ‘Babylon’-U.S., today’s ‘northern kingdom,’ apparently as a former leader or ruler. I have also shown that this same ‘northern kingdom,’ ‘Babylon’-U.S., becomes aligned against Judah over time. In Isaiah, we are told:
- “Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah.” (Is 9:21)
So here are two more substantial entities aligned against Judah, likely against both the country of Israel and the small ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant. ‘Ephraim’ here (as well as ‘Samaria’ in this line of text) is representative of today’s ‘northern kingdom’s house of Israel residing largely in ‘Babylon’-U.S., and about whom scripture in Isaiah tells us “envies” Judah; but this is likely due to blindness associated with Chaldean loyalties and lies that have been purveyed. Many believe that ‘Ephraim’s prophetic “brother,” Manasseh, represents the U.K. in these end times. So these two powerful forces become aligned against the small ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant and likely the country of Israel. In return for ‘Ephraim’s (U.S.’s) rebelliousness and persecution of God’s remnant people, its leaders and land will be destroyed. Scripture is clear that only a remnant of ‘Ephraim’ will escape.
In the book of Isaiah (as seen in Part 1), we have historic, yet prophetic ‘pictures’ for understanding this war on Judah that continues in our current end times. First we saw the story of the kings of Israel (northern kingdom) and Syria aligned against king Ahaz and his people of Judah. Then we saw the ‘Assyrian,’ Sannacherib, aligned against and attacking Judah before being stopped at Jerusalem’s city limits. Of course, a little while later God called Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians against Judah for its destruction.
End times ‘Judah’ targeted
For current end times application, we are given direct references to the ‘Assyrian’-Pharoah versus Judah. Recall that scripture tells us that he gets boastful and arrogant because of his significant victories and gains in the last days, but only as a result of being a rod of punishment that God uses for his own purposes. The ‘Assyrian’-Pharoah exclaims in Isaiah, “And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth…” (Is 10:14). He also says, “Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?” (Is 10:11). These are indicators of his anti-Christ Chaldean kingdom ambitions, which naturally mean aligning against God’s own ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant inheritance. God foretells his people of this:
- “Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt.” (Is 10:24)
The “manner of Egypt” in this verse refers to the anti-Christ Chaldeans’ unconventional, cruel and unusual, mob-style persecution against a single individual.
But God will defeat the ‘Assyrian’ in order to regather his people. We are told that the Lord shall, “beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt,” to recover his people. A large part of defeating the Pharoah-‘Assyrian’ will be breaking down and publicly exposing the mystery of iniquity that includes his anti-Christ Chaldean matrix system, its use of ‘Egyptian’ false gods and idols, and its strange idol-worshiping practices.
Lesson: God’s people are advised to stay independent of alliances
In case it is not obvious, God’s people have many natural enemies. We have the ancient lessons for God’s people whom God originally instructed: not to mingle with other people groups; not to follow foreign gods; and furthermore, not to go to ‘Egypt’ or ‘Assyria’ for assistance in their affairs as a nation. After all, God’s people were one whom he chose for himself, so their natural reliance should always be on him.
However, the huge problem of God’s people pledging allegiance to foreign gods and false idols is shown through Isaiah, just as it is through Jeremiah and Ezekiel. These gods and idols keep God’s house of Israel people blinded from the truth as well as blinded as to who their enemies are. This leads to God’s vineyard’s destruction and God’s aforementioned need to save and rescue a small remnant for his inheritance. Otherwise, God’s people’s troubles due to their false gods are described in scripture from the book of Isaiah below:
- “Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.” (Is 2:6)
- “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.” (Is 5:13)
Isaiah himself, who counseled both Judah’s kings (Ahaz and his son Hezekiah) mentioned above, passed along a message to these kings about having faith in the face of enemies at the time he also counseled them against taking alliances. God had previously instructed Isaiah about the importance of staying independent and trusting him as follows:
- “Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” (Is 8:10-13)
King Ahaz, although he was initially assisted by God when the ‘northern kingdom’ arose against him/Judah, was a corrupt king who perpetuated the worship of foreign gods. Ahaz also went to the king of Assyria for an alliance and help, offering him treasures from the king’s house in return for defense against his surrounding enemies (incl. Edom and the Philistines). Because of Ahaz’s lack of faith, the Lord soon “brought Judah low” and humbled it at the hands of its enemies.
Ahaz’s son, King Hezekiah, then initially undid what his father had done in that he chose to serve and honor the Lord. He also rebelled against the standing alliance with the King of Assyria. But Hezekiah eventually cowered to the powerful, threatening Assyrian in paying him treasures from the king’s house. Even so, only by Isaiah’s counsel, along with God’s supernatural intervention, was Sannacherib’s final invasion of Jerusalem prevented; thereby saving a remnant at the time in Jerusalem in an otherwise war-torn land of Judah. This was an answer to the following prayer:
- “It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.” (Is 37:4)
Had it not been for Isaiah’s counsel, king Hezekiah would not have had the faith to trust God and the courage to resist an alliance.
Last days importance of staying independent of reliance on foreign nations
In our current last days time period, it appears to be a corrupt, faulty peace agreement that will trigger an outbreak of hostilities. Recall that we are told in Ezekiel (Ch. 17) that today’s last days king of Judah (country of Israel) will go to the ‘Assyrian’-Pharoah for assistance in some kind of covenant/treaty, thereby breaking his oath to the king of ‘Babylon’-U.S. in so doing. But this will backfire. This current day disobedient, treasonous Chaldean king of the country of Israel will draw the ire of both. King Ahaz’s historical story above and as I described in Part 1 is similar to this.
Here, nonetheless, it is still interesting to at least ponder the possibility of a repeat of Hezekiah’s mistake (above) by a current-day king of ‘Babylon’-U.S. and/or king of the country of Israel. Isaiah was last seen in person in scripture at the time he asked king Hezekiah about what he had showed an envoy that came to him from Assyria. After Hezekiah told Isaiah that he had shown them everything in the king’s house, Isaiah then prophesied that destruction would come as a result. This would be a similar to a leader in today’s U.S. or Israel revealing secrets or inside information to an enemy such as today’s anti-Christ Chaldean kingdom leader, the ‘Assyrian,’ who could then defile God’s present day holy places, people or land in some way. After all, spying, sabotaging, mocking and plundering is what the anti-Christ Chaldeans do.
As it happened in Isaiah’s day, a small Judah remnant will be spared from this coming destruction in our current end times (‘Jacob’s day) by coming ‘out of Egypt,’ so to speak, and fleeing ‘Babylon.’ These ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant members, some we are told have been “sold (to ‘Egypt’) for nothing,” are encouraged to maintain independence once they are freed. God says as follows, referring to their eventual departure from ‘Babylon’-U.S.:
- “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” (Is 52:11)
Recall the ultimate lesson God’s people learn as I gave detail about in my passage entitled, Ezekiel’s personal and prophetic story. They learn that ‘Egyptian,’ foreign gods cannot help them in trouble and a reliance on them only leads to shame. Only by keeping independence from foreign gods and idols and having faith in their one true God- Jesus Christ- can God’s people successfully confront challenges that will come onto them from the enemy in the last days kingdom war.
Lesson: The enemy will destroy himself
Once God’s people keep free of alliances and commitment (oaths) to others, and maintain faith in Jesus Christ, then they will see how God works to defeat their enemies.
One repeating pattern that we see in scripture is that God will set his people’s enemies against themselves. This happens as a result of the built-in destruction, confounding and confusion of the Satanic false god dialectic system. You will recall that I have explained previously and have shown scripture that tells us that both ‘Babylon’-U.S. and the country of Israel will not even be able to fight back against invading forces because of their shame that is exposed at a national level, combined with the fact that their confounding, lying dialectic system will stand in the way of accurate information and decision-making.
We are told in Isaiah that the country of Egypt will experience its own problems from within and will implode due to what scripture tells us will be “Egyptians against Egyptians.” But this is also symbolic of an illusionary, worldwide Chaldean dialectic system that includes ‘Egyptian’ false gods and idols; a system that scripture tells us once it is discovered will cause, “brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom” (Is 19:2). God says, “the spirit of Egypt will fail,” and God will cause this anti-Christ system to turn against itself; he says, “I will mingle a perverse spirit in the midst,” and will, “destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea.” The worldwide anti-Christ Chaldean army of secret oath-taking, order-obeying minion-slaves will become confounded and confused as follows:
- “Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.” (Is 31:3)
- “Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.” (Is 30:3)
- “The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.” (Is 19:14)
These verses represent Jesus’ principle that a house that is divided against itself cannot stand, and furthermore how Satan cannot cast out Satan. Speaking of Jesus, he is the one who I mentioned in Part 1 as the “Wonderful Counselor,” birthed at the mid-Tribulation time period. He will ultimately destroy the primary Chaldean system and matrix that holds together the kingdom’s deceitful web of darkness. We are told in scripture that the time period surrounding his re-birth will be similar to the day Gideon battled the Midianites when, at the mere sounding of trumpets, God supernaturally turned this enemy against itself. In Isaiah, we are reminded about Gideon’s victorious battle against his enemy as follows:
- “For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.” (Is 9:5)
We are told further about this time in the last days that, when the land is darkened, “no man shall spare his brother” (Is 9:19). The Lord says about this time, “everyone is a hypocrite and an evildoer…” (Is 9:17). A Satanic dialectic system, by definition, always causes this kind of strife and confusion among those involved.
As this principle relates to the enemy-alliance examples that I discussed earlier in this passage, and in Part 1, the northern kingdom house of Israel that was Judah’s (Ahaz’s) enemy was eventually attacked and destroyed by the Syrians and Philistines. The Assyrian’s (Sannacherib’s) troops that had surrounded Jerusalem after invading the rest of Judah then suddenly found themselves occupied in battle elsewhere. The following summarizes what God did for his faithful people in Jerusalem to protect them from Sannacherib:
- “Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.” (Is 37:7-8)
Then, when the King of Assyria, Sannacherib, returned to his land, he was killed by his own sons.
These are all cases from Judah’s perspective that exemplify the principle, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and demonstrate how God will turn his people’s evil enemies to war against and cannibalize one another. In the meantime, God’s people are called to maintain righteousness, wait, and be patient.
Last days ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant enemies will turn against themselves
As for the current last days ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant, I have demonstrated that they have many enemies, such as the last days king of ‘Babylon’-U.S. and the last days Pharoah-‘Assyrian’ Babylonian kingdom ruler. But God will use the same tactic to protect his people. He will set their enemies against each other. God says this through Isaiah as follows:
- “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.” (Is 7:18)
This is referring to the last days ‘Assyrio-Babylonia’ world kingdom forces coming against ‘Babylon’-U.S., which is ruled by its own treasonous anti-Christ Chaldeans. So this is just another case of the Chaldeans cannibalizing themselves, overall, and adhering to Satan’s mission and attempts at destroying mankind. This conflict will be just the beginning of worldwide strife and fighting. Never-ending Chaldean-caused conflict that escalates dramatically in the last days is why we are told in scripture that if God did not cut this time short, there would be “no flesh remaining.”
The last days Pharoah-‘Assyrian,’ as I have shown, is also an enemy of the ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant who has “devoured” them, likely in his prior capacity as a ruler in ‘Babylon’-U.S. God “brings him back” as his rod against ‘Babylon’-U.S. Then, after he accomplishes the mission God has for him, the Pharoah-‘Assyrian,’ his princes, and his multitudes become frightened and scattered in the last days. God’s supernatural smiting and chasing away of the ‘Assyrian’ and his army out of ‘Babylon’-U.S. on behalf of his remnant people is summarized as follows in scripture from the book of Isaiah:
- “One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.” (Is 30:17)
- “Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.” (Is 10:33)
- “Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from (the daughter of Babylon)…” (Jer 50:44)
- “Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.” (Is 31:8)
The last days Pharoah-‘Assyrian’ ultimately ends up fleeing and falling to the sword.
Meanwhile, much of the remainder of the ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant enemies in both the nation of ‘Babylon’-U.S. and the anti-Christ Chaldean world kingdom will be scattered and destroyed. Their destruction can perhaps be seen as an answer to end times ‘Jacob’s following prophetic remark, followed by God’s own remark about his retribution for ‘Jacob’:
- “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” (Is 50:11)
- “And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” (Is 49:26)
God always punishes those who persecute his people.
Lesson: The primary target, God’s Judah remnant, will continue to be protected
The small ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant will eventually come out of an environment in ‘Babylon’-U.S. where they have been targeted, oppressed and persecuted by the anti-Christ Chaldeans. The Lord admits to this remnant that he has, “given (them) the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction…” (Is 30:20). Scripture also tells us that they will essentially be escapees; God’s people who are “left of the sword.”
They will have been prime targets in a war against them that only intensifies in the end times and then reaches the larger house of Israel and Christ believers worldwide. Not only will ‘Babylon’-U.S.’s kings have been aligned against them, but as the world kingdom becomes more formally established and ‘Babylon’-U.S.’s kings fall, it will be the ‘Assyrio-Babylonian’ world kingdom rulers versus the small house of David (‘Babylon’-U.S. remnant version) all over again. In their drunken, anti-Christ spirit, they will remain obsessed with, and strongly misguided in, trying to conquer God’s holy land and inheritance.
In Isaiah (KJV, Chs. 25 & 26), chapters entitled “Israel’s praise for kingdom blessings” and “Israel’s kingdom songs,” respectively, the following excerpts are very King David-like, and applicable to today’s ‘Jacob’-Judah remnant in appealing for God’s salvation (i.e. “our arm every morning, our salvation in the midst of trouble,” Is 33:2) in the midst of persecution at the hands of their enemies:
- “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Is 25:9)
- “Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.” (Is 26:8)
- “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Is 26:9)
The last days house of David/Judah (‘Babylon’-U.S. version) is comprised of the escaped, surviving remnant that God will protect, according to scripture. They are who are implicitly and symbolically referred to in an end times context when God says that he will “defend Jerusalem” (Is 31:5) and defend the city for “my servant David’s sake” (Is 37:34). God ultimately protects them from the ‘Assyrian,’ who, as in the days of Hezekiah, will “not shoot an arrow” against this Judah remnant.
In my passage entitled, Ezekiel’s personal and prophetic story (Part 4), I described this Judah remnant’s likely temporary “holding pattern” situation in the wilderness in ‘Babylon’-U.S. under some form of protected captivity, I described this as a time when God is doing a “new thing” and is: “making a way in the wilderness”; “rivers in the desert”; and “fountains in the midst of valleys.” We also learn in the book of Isaiah about this time for this remnant:
- “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.” (Is 44:3)
- “In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” (Is 27:3)
In the same Ezekiel passage (Part 4) referenced above, I also described how God is with his small remnant people himself in some form, perhaps even as the third member of the Trinity in the person of the Spirit of truth. In Isaiah, we are told that the Lord will be a “sanctuary” to his “small flock” people at this time. I mentioned the possibility of leaders who will be in their midst as in the days of Moses. Perhaps their own Moses-type such as end times ‘Jacob’ is the “man” referred to as follows:
- “And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” (Is 32:2)
Finally, I mentioned prior how God’s escaped small remnant in the wilderness at this time of trouble in the Tribulation period might expect to see supernatural signs and wonders from God. The wilderness itself will serve as their refuge, as described above, but ‘Jerusalem’s escape is also alluded to as “birds flying” in one case, and additionally as follows in scripture in Isaiah:
- “Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?” (Is 60:8)
- “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.” (Is 26:20)
Given that God will be directly involved with this remnant, anything is possible, including supernatural wonders, for their journey en-route to ultimately being established in the land of Israel.
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Of course, one of the big themes in scripture in Isaiah is God’s deliverance and redemption of his people. (I have addressed this topic in detail previously on this site). God’s remnant of Jesus Christ believers who remain awake, aware and adhere to the lessons described herein will indeed be delivered from persecution and established in their own land at the beginning of the reign of Jesus Christ for the Millennial Kingdom.
Grace & Peace,
Lion’s Lair (LL)
Lion's Lair 